The dick

My car has finally had the dick. I love that saying... when my mother first said something had the dick it took me a couple of minutes to realise what she meant. But she also used the term dic to refer to her dictionaries... She used to be really into crosswords, and often would yell out for me to bring her the big dic or the small dic. I found her small dic the other day while moving.. I put it in the car and kept it for her... :) She is now reunited with the small dic, but has left it on my dining room table...

I could see the proverbial dick coming for my car for a while... bless her rusted out soul... its an '87 Laser, and it used to run a lot better than it looked. Now it looks about how it runs! Or doesnt. The brakes had been going funny for the last few days, maybe weeks, I can't remember. A few times last week it would screach to a halt if i slammed the brakes on... I literally had about 3 close calls with the cars in front... I must seriously have angels watching over me... I really cant afford to pay off another insurance company.

Yesterday, after arriving home, from a 2 hour drive to BoganLogan and back, the car was hissing and steaming  in a way that almost felt suggestive, like a "was it good for you?" type of way... but really it was like a "Phew! Made it!" Allan poured coolant in it.. I went to work driving a lot more carefully than I think I ever have... you know, observing the speed limit, slowing down well before really necessary, pretending you dont notice other drivers gawking at you as they pass to see whether your old, asian or a woman.... (surely im one of those)... And then when I got home, the car was at it again...

Today i was going to drive to Val's and return her True Blood DVDs (no not really.. but intention is as good as the crime as far as im concerned)... when I decided to fill the radiator, and found the coolant pissing out of a leak in the rusted out water thing attached to the engine. The hose was broken and yeah... the thing it attaches to is rusted with a hole in it...

I really dont think its worth fixing.. I just wanted to make it to the end of the month - tax time! I'll get a new old car.. hey, maybe even something built in the last 10 years! I'll be lucky if I can get $50 for it at the wreckers...

so as an ode to my white '87 laser... I just wanted to list the things about it I loved
1. The price.. I paid $850 for it, including rego.. with my tax cheque 2 years ago :) unfortunately the yearly rego was about that too.. worth way more than the car :)

2. The stereo.. still awesome CD player with remote.. oh good tines...

3. The fact that I would get at least 10km to the L of petrol... to someone who had never had her own car, I thought it was great! I never ran out of petrol once!

4. Other drivers would avoid me... Im not sure if it was because they found a better parking spot or not, or whether it was the big dent on the front right panel, the smashed out front right indicator light, the bumpy and dented bonnet, which I might add, the previous owner had sporadically spray painted over the rust, the playboy bunny sticker on the back window, the rusty front metal guard thing underneath the bumper, the sound of the car, or the fact that I would not make eye contact with them.

5. The thick rubber bumper... um awesome! I once ran up the back of someone (well it was more a bump that cost me $600.. yet to finish paying - end of july i think).. the impact is what caused the aforementioned indicator light to break.. but the bumper didnt even move :) I later (maybe a month or so) hit one of those waist high yellow cement poles while backing out (of course i was looking! ) and there was no damage whatso ever... or that i could tell :)

well I think I may just put her out of her misery.. i live near a train station.. its all good :)